1000 reasons...and then some...

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. - Genesis 12:1

I know what you're thinking. "You reached 1000, aren't you finished?" That was the goal, and that was the plan. Little did I realize that God was leading me in a direction I never imagined for myself. Never did I realize that He had given me the desire, passion, and ability to write. And not just to write for writing's sake. The truth is, my life is pretty tame, pretty uneventful. I don't have crazy stories to tell, being one who usually strays from adventure. You know me, I like to play it safe and plan ahead. I don't walk on the edge or play with fire. I never have. I didn't catch that wild spirit. I am an old soul, about as old as they come for my age, in fact. And having a plan for blogging 1000 days seemed like a good and safe idea to me.

People put restraints on things. We place limitations and expiration dates. It's good to have goals. They move us forward. If we didn't make plans, we'd get nowhere. And so I made the plan to blog 1000 days. At the time, that seemed like an eternity. I made plans to write out my story and share my heart. I didn't know why 1000 days was the number God placed on my heart, but He did. And the truth is, on day 1000, it was time to end that chapter. It was the ending to that specific beginning. Because for 1000 days I have really been intentional to walk the journey that God set before me. To look for His blessings in the midst of darkness. I needed the accountability because I had to have something to look forward to. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, right? This was my lemonade. This was the only way I could figure out how to use the lemons I was holding. Because, if I'm being totally honest, I would have rather frozen those lemons and thrown them as hard as I could at life so that we could both feel the pain. In the end, neither one of us wouldn't have won and in the end, I would have been no better off. But the lemonade was so sweet that I am not ready to stop drinking, and frankly, I don't know that I need to.

So a new journey begins, but this one has no end. It may last a lifetime, it may not. The Lord will decide as He always does. And as I have taken a 4 day rest (which has seemed like a lifetime and has been really tough), I've come to realize that it's okay to not have an answer. It's okay to not know what's next. As I neared 1000, people would say, "What's next? What are you going to do?" I don't know. I am navigating in chartered territory here, friends. I know what I'd like for the Lord to do, but I really don't know what He has in store. I just trust that if I keep delighting myself in Him, He will give me the desires of my heart.

Abraham set the example. God called Abraham and made this incredible promise to Him. The thing is, Abraham had no idea when and how it would all play out. He also received no forewarning. As humans, especially plan making humans like me, we like to have a heads up. God didn't say, "Hey, Abe, just wanted to let you know I've got some big changes ahead but I'll catch up with you in a few weeks and we can discuss the details and get your thoughts on it." God said "Hey Abe, I need you to leave everything you know and follow me to this place I will show you." God never said where, He just said follow me. I've talked to plenty of people who have moved before and they always say that God led them to the specific place they've ended up. No one has ever said, "You know, we had no idea where God was calling us so we just packed up, got in the car, and then drove and drove and drove until He told us to stop here." We'd think they were a little crazy to try out that tactic. Crazy and faith sometimes look pretty similar. Anyway, Abraham and Sarah were given no details, no specific instructions, and no end point. They were simply asked to follow God no matter how long it took or where He led them. They did it, and look what God did with them.

And so that's how I feel tonight. I'm just going to keep following the Lord until He makes it clear that this is where He has called me. Because I am sure that as they followed the Lord, Abraham and Sarah figured they'd made it many times before they actually made it to where God was leading them. Don't you know they camped out at certain places and thought, "surely this is it" only to find out that was simply a resting place to prepare them for the continued trip? And you know, maybe He already has me exactly where He desires for me to be and I've just not quite understood that yet. Maybe it'll just take a little time to realize that. But either way, I'm going to keep walking. I'm going to keep believing in His promises that He knows the plans He has for me and that He'll make them known as I need to know them.

Here's to a new journey. The journey past 1000. Because in all reality, our walk with the Lord is endless.